Sunrise Alarm Clock, Aldi Specials on Sunday - €29.99

death1234567 · 14-10-2013 10:58AM

Used it this morning and its good but as expected is a cheap product and you get what you pay for. The button's are hit and miss and usability wise it's not very straightforward. On the plus side it definitely works and is plenty bright enough to wake you up in the morning. Its definitely easier to get up with one than without. Overall its worth €30.

Alanstrainor · 14-10-2013 11:07AM

Soarer wrote: »

Is there a Mrs. Strainor? Was she annoyed or anything?

I've no one to annoy at present!

Soarer · 14-10-2013 11:12AM

Alanstrainor wrote: »

I've no one to annoy at present!

Probably why you're driving a straight 6!

paddydriver · 14-10-2013 11:55AM

I got a call at 6AM because customers web server was gone tits up - that's enough to get me out of bed quick; no need for any tweeting birds or rain drops. 24x7 support.. pain in the a$$ but pays the bills.

Soarer · 14-10-2013 02:38PM

4 left in Mayfield as I type.

Hansanter · 14-10-2013 05:51PM

I just got one of these in the Aldi store on the Long Mile Road in Dublin at about 4:30 this afternoon. Fired it up, very happy with it, very good quality. There was 4 or 5 left after I grabbed mine.

adamski8 · 14-10-2013 06:38PM

Woke up to birds this morning and it was nice the light was on, which at full blast doesnt hurt our eyes. No sure about how much the simulated sunrise thing helps but i guess the gradual increase doesnt wake me.

Stheno · 14-10-2013 06:41PM

I think I'd smash anything that woke me with tweeting birds off the wall!

Alanstrainor · 14-10-2013 07:50PM

adamski8 wrote: »

Woke up to birds this morning and it was nice the light was on, which at full blast doesnt hurt our eyes. No sure about how much the simulated sunrise thing helps but i guess the gradual increase doesnt wake me.

It's not meant to wake you as far as I gather, it's supposed to slowly take you out of a deep sleep and the noise is supposed wake you when you're almost awake from the light.

Aoifums · 14-10-2013 08:34PM

I managed to pick one up around lunch time today

I was about to say that I was looking forward to testing it but I never want to get up in the morning so that would be a massive lie

positron · 14-10-2013 11:27PM

Looks like there is also an option to act like a mood lighting - it can be set to keep flicking thru various colors, or set to one of the many colors using the two light symbol buttons on the left under the alarm symbol button. Pretty cool.

14-10-2013 11:59PM

Got one in Sandyford - none were on display but asked a guy working there and he said that he thought that he had a returned one in the warehouse - will give it a go. Had another model before - will test it out tonight / tomorrow morning - if it makes getting up any easier it will be well worth it

kkapp · 15-10-2013 12:55AM

I bought one of these a few months back when they were last on sale after a disaster with my philips wake up light. Long story short stay clear did not last more than 3 weeks before bulb went and couldnt replace. I have since purchased a lumie light which I have seen on sale in boots and on their website for 99.00 I know it is more expensive but you get what you pay for.

asharkman · 15-10-2013 08:37AM

Bought it yesterday in Naas, there were a few left, maybe 5 or 6 at lunch time.
My experience the UI is desperate, the buttons feel cheap and its a bout as intuitive as.... eh something really unintuitive.
The girlfriend didn't like the light coming on in the morning.
The speakers are meh.
BUT I actually really enjoyed waking up to the light!
There are lots of settings like you can set the max brightness, max radio volume also actually switching on and off the alarm is a bit of a chore, hold down the alarm button for 3 seconds cycle through the options.

I'd recommend it generally, although I can't see it lasting too long though, just feels really really cheap.

The other thing is that I couldn't figure out how to actually turn off the alarm?
All I could do was snooze it. Can anyone help?

banbhaaifric · 15-10-2013 09:42AM

Soarer wrote: »

Rakes in Mayfield at about 2 o'clock.

Walked passed them the first time. Don't know what I was expecting, but they're in small black boxes.

Woo hoo ta! Got one yesterday thanks. They are TINY! My old Philips one is three times the size.

They thought they were out of them as well when I asked but then we found them. They had lava lamps on top of them... There were a few left yesterday afternoon anyway.

I accidentally called Lidl trying to check availability :eek:

death1234567 · 15-10-2013 10:38AM

asharkman wrote: »

All I could do was snooze it. Can anyone help?

I think holding down the lightbulb button turns it off after one snooze AFAIK.

positron · 15-10-2013 10:43AM

asharkman wrote: »

The other thing is that I couldn't figure out how to actually turn off the alarm? All I could do was snooze it. Can anyone help?

Yesterday morning I had to go downstairs and get the user guide to turn off the alarm - press and hold the main large space bar like button (you know the one with light and zzzz at either ends) for around 3 seconds to stop the alarm. The small square button on the right top with the picture of bell is to cycle between alarm set, alarm tone, radio, off etc.

Also be forewarned - remember to turn off the alarm Friday morning if you like your lie ins on weekends - it's not as smart as your smart phone.

mrcheez · 15-10-2013 10:51AM

positron wrote: »

Also be forewarned - remember to turn off the alarm Friday morning if you like your lie ins on weekends - it's not as smart as your smart phone.

Does it not track the day it's operating on? My current Philips alarm clock does that and has a Weekender setting (to not turn on Sat/Sun)... it would pretty much be essential if I were to get this as a replacement

positron · 15-10-2013 10:59AM

I don't think it does - I didn't see any option to set it, perhaps I am wrong (I hope I am wrong).

Whiplashy · 15-10-2013 11:23AM

positron wrote: »

I don't think it does - I didn't see any option to set it, perhaps I am wrong (I hope I am wrong).

You're not wrong! It's the only major flaw I can find with it. Yeah the buttons are cheap like others have mentioned but that's to be expected for €30. Having a weekend setting though is pretty much standard these days so I am a bit disappointed that it doesn't have it.

the_pod · 15-10-2013 12:07PM

Especially as it tells you what day of the week it is in the top right corner!

15-10-2013 12:55PM

asharkman wrote: »

Bought it yesterday in Naas, there were a few left, maybe 5 or 6 at lunch time.
My experience the UI is desperate, the buttons feel cheap and its a bout as intuitive as.... eh something really unintuitive.
The girlfriend didn't like the light coming on in the morning.
The speakers are meh.
BUT I actually really enjoyed waking up to the light!
There are lots of settings like you can set the max brightness, max radio volume also actually switching on and off the alarm is a bit of a chore, hold down the alarm button for 3 seconds cycle through the options.

I'd recommend it generally, although I can't see it lasting too long though, just feels really really cheap.

The other thing is that I couldn't figure out how to actually turn off the alarm?
All I could do was snooze it. Can anyone help?

one way to turn off the alarm would be to go into alarm settings (hold down the alarm button for 3 seconds) for setting alarm time etc and set it to off - no bell icon.

yes the user interface is a bit awkward but you can get used to it I think.

I think that it's very good for the money - has a lot of functions- just hoping that that bulb doesn't go - does it say anything about replacing it. keep the receipt I guess.

.

Whiplashy · 15-10-2013 01:21PM

I've set a recurring reminder on my phone to turn the alarm off on a Friday and to reset it on a Sunday

How did we manage before smart phones?!

15-10-2013 01:49PM

Whiplashy wrote: »

I've set a recurring reminder on my phone to turn the alarm off on a Friday and to reset it on a Sunday How did we manage before smart phones?!

exactly. big deal if it doesn't have a weekend function. plug it out or turn the alarm off at the weekend - simple.

Soarer · 15-10-2013 03:24PM

Whiplashy wrote: »

I've set a recurring reminder on my phone to turn the alarm off on a Friday and to reset it on a Sunday How did we manage before smart phones?!

I wanna say Cardiff!

mrcheez · 15-10-2013 03:26PM

glasso wrote: »

exactly. big deal if it doesn't have a weekend function. plug it out or turn the alarm off at the weekend - simple.

A lot of effort just to have a sleep in

Nice thing about a weekend function is you set it up once and never need to touch it again for the lifetime of the alarm

15-10-2013 04:15PM

mrcheez wrote: »

A lot of effort just to have a sleep in

Nice thing about a weekend function is you set it up once and never need to touch it again for the lifetime of the alarm

true, it's nice to have but when you consider that this item is 30 euro compared to 120 to 150 for the Philips one on amazon I can live with the lack of it!

gipi · 15-10-2013 08:05PM

Jury still out on its effectiveness as a pleasant way to wake up - it wakes me, that's about all I can say!

Radio has a very "mono" sound, much more than any clock/radio I've had before.

Instructions and buttons are far from intuitive - and the display isn't user-friendly either. Biggest gripe from me is that there's no bell display to tell you that the alarm is set (it is displayed while you're setting it, but not once it's done) - I tested it when I bought it, but was still unsure until it went off yesterday morning!

Changing an alarm setting (alarm time, alarm on/off for weekends, etc) requires you to go through all the alarm settings again, not just change the one you need. Potential for disaster there!

Styron and Positron asked about preset radio stations - there are 8 memory buttons for presets.

Tune the radio to the station you want to keep and press/hold the R button until a preset number appears in the display.
Use the volume up/down buttons on the front to change the preset number (not the up arrow and down arrow used to scroll through every other value on the clock!) and press R again to save.
Move from preset to preset using the TEST button on the side.

Lissavane · 15-10-2013 08:17PM

gipi wrote: »

Radio has a very "mono" sound, much more than any clock/radio I've had before.

Radio is important to me. Can it receive AM or just FM, please?

Soarer · 15-10-2013 08:46PM

Finally got it set up.

Just wondering though. I've set the alarm for the morning, but there's no bell symbol once everything's set. The test button runs through everything I've set perfectly, but no little symbol on the display. Should her be?

Sunrise Alarm Clock, Aldi Specials on Sunday - €29.99

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